There’s been a significant amount of buzz surrounding Ram this week, as the highly-anticipated Ram 1500 Revolution BEV Concept was debuted at CES, and the company confirmed its plans to develop an electric light-duty truck with a gasoline-powered range extender. Not only that — Ram also hinted at potential plans to produce hydrogen fuel cell versions of its US heavy duty pickups and vans in the future.
Ram 1500 Revolution
In a statement to Green Car Reports last week, Ram CEO Mike Koval revealed that a “range-extended version of the upcoming Ram EV will carry all of the characteristics of the Ram Revolution, but will also offer class-leading, real-world range.”
At CES, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares elaborated on Koval’s statement, noting that Ram is looking at four different factors as it designs its electric trucks: payload, towing, charging speed, and range. “I’m taking advantage of not being the first, and having the leisure to engineer my product in a way that is going to beat the guys that are already there,” he shared.
According to Tavares, this new Ram EV will beat everything in the market across the four aforementioned factors. To be precise, he said it doesn’t yet exist in the market, as “existing entries all involve a higher level of compromise in particular aspects.”
Tavares also cleared up any confusion regarding rumours of a new plug-in hybrid truck. “A range extender is not a plug-in hybrid,” said Tavares, responding to a question asking for a little more clarification on the truck. “A plug-in hybrid is something else.” So far, Ram has not revealed any explicit details or production specs for the new electric truck, nor has any clarification been provided with regards to where the range extender will be installed.
2023 Ram ProMaster
As for hydrogen fuel cell technology, Tavares hinted at the possibility it making its way into Ram’s US heavy duty trucks. In fact, Stellantis is already developing fuel-cell vans in Europe. “It’s a possibility; the technology will be available for our Ram brand – and for the ProMaster in particular,” he shared, noting that it will ultimately be the decision of Ram’s CEO.
